Medhi Benatia looks back on his failure as a player

Now an advisor to Olympique de Marseille, Medhi Benatia had previously been a player at the Marseille club's training center (2003-2006). But the former Moroccan international did not last long and left for other lands. The reason? The lack of trust placed in him at the time. For Provence – Le Mag 1899he came back to what happened. “ I never claimed I could become an important player. I was simply saying that as a kid trained at the club, I wanted to have my chance, to play 10-20 minutes with the pros. This happened to certain players who did not have a career afterwards, as for the match in Paris (PSG-OM, in March 2006, editor's note). Because of extra-sporting problems, they preferred not to give me my chance. When you have a career with a lot of success and above all a lot of work, whether you go through Roma, Bayern or Juve, you no longer have an answer to give to these people “, indicated Benatia, who was forced to choose an agent chosen by the management of José Anigo. What he and his father will refuse.

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« We made it clear that no one would decide for us who would represent me. It became a personal conflict. He already had his character at the time, he made it known to the managers and they didn't like it. I had to leave. » He also added: “ Now that I'm on the other side, it's easier to judge. But I try to look at the value of the player, not who represents him. And if one day you hear that to join OM, you have to have this or that agent, I invite you to denounce it. It's against everything I want to put in place. I'm trying to grow this club, without knowing who works with whom or not. »